Schiffer's List
by Skyskater
Summary: A few Christmases ago, I met Ulquiorra Schiffer at a mall. He was standing in the line for Santa. It was the things he wanted for Christmas that made me reach out. UlquiGrimm.


**Happy holidays everyone.**

* * *

I was with my parents and little sister, Airi, when I first saw him.

We were in the line for "Santa" at the mall. Of course, I was too old for this, but, well, I was forced there against my will. Plus I think my parents got a kick out of seeing me squirm. Airi, little brat that she was, looked just so happy and so delighted to get to sit on Santa's lap...of course, that was before anybody had bothered to tell her that Santa wasn't real and that all the little "elves" were actually midgets dressed up. I'd let her have her fun. It just wasn't worth two weeks of being grounded.

But yeah. It was at the mall when I first laid eyes on Ulquiorra Schiffer.

He was in line in front of me. Alone. And he was as old as I was, a teenager. I wondered, "What the hell is a guy like that doing in this line?" but I didn't voice my opinion out loud.

He was skinny and pale. His clothes were fraying and threadbare, and his hair went down to his shoulders in shaggy little strands that looked as though they hadn't been cut in a long time. His shoes were, well, let's just say they looked like something fished out from a Goodwill box. And that was what he looked like then. Like a homeless kid. Just another one of those kids on the street, begging for money by doing tap dances or whatever.

Come to think of it, I don't actually know why the security guards let him in. Maybe they felt sorry for him, just as I had felt sorry for him that one holiday week.

So we were standing in the line for Santa, for my little sister, Airi Jeagerjacques. He was in front of us in line. An elf approached him, and said, in a voice clearly loud enough for pretty much the whole mall to hear, "Aren't you a bit too old for this, son?"

People turned and stared at Ulquiorra. They stared, long and hard, and then many of them started breaking out into chuckles and laughs. Even my parents and Airi. But I didn't. I don't exactly remember why, but I just didn't.

And then there was that key moment that drew me to him, that led my heart to notice that I actually did feel emotion, that I felt sorry for this one boy whose name I had not known.

He said, quietly, once all the laughter had died down and there was a sudden silence in which you could hear a pin drop,

"I never knew that you were too old to ask for a good life. For good health, for a family, for someone to love me."

Everybody was silent, and I think I heard someone break into sobs. My parents were shell-shocked. They hadn't expected that kind of answer. But that was the answer he gave, and that was the answer that, I think, I'd been waiting my whole life to hear.

"I didn't know I was too old to ask for that. I'm sorry."

And he turned on his heel and quietly started to leave. The elf looked after him, eyes wide and mouth open, and everything was still silent. As he was passing me, our eyes caught for a moment. He had the most amazing eyes that I had ever seen, like a pair of emeralds shining out of that slightly sunken face, that face that asked for something, anything, whatever I could give him.

I reached out and touched his shoulder.

"Wait."

He stopped and looked at me. And that was when I made my move.

"You can stay with me." I didn't say 'us', because I knew my family might not approve of it. But by saying 'me,' I told him that I would care. Even if nobody else would.

"Grimmjow!" My parents were shocked. "You can't just say that! You don't even know who this boy belongs to! You can't make assumptions like that!"

"...I don't belong to anybody. But I would like to." That were his exact words, those words that made me see exactly how different, how much better he was from all the other homeless children I saw on the streets almost every day.

I looked at my parents. They still looked doubtful, so I said, in an act of near desperation,

"He can stay with me. In my room. I'll just sleep in a sleeping bag or something. You won't have to do anything. Just...just let him stay with us. Please."

My parents nodded, slowly, almost as if refusing the idea while accepting it. But it was there, a nod.

I looked at him. "So. What's your name?"

A hint of a smile washed across his face. "I'm Ulquiorra Schiffer."

"So, you wanna come home with us?"

Then his face broke into an even bigger grin. "I would love that."

* * *

A few Christmases ago, Ulquiorra Schiffer, once upon a time a homeless boy, came to live with me, my parents, and my younger sister Airi. He was like a brother, and yet...something so much more than that. Like a boyfriend, perhaps. Except this one my parents actually knew about. And he lived with us.

Now it's the holiday season again.

I rolled over in bed and asked him, "Hey, whaddaya want for Christmas, Ora-kun?"

He smiled in the dark, a soft twist of his lips that made my heart jump for joy every time I saw it, and said, "Whaddaya think?"

"Schiffer's List?" I asked.

"Yup. That's all I ask for every year."

* * *

Schiffer's List has never varied. From year to year, it is always the exact same list.

On that list are the following:

A) A good life

B) Good health

C) Health for my "family" and "boyfriend"

and D) More love to share this year.

That was all he asked for, every single year.

And every single year, I made sure that Ulquiorra, my Ulquiorra, got it.


End file.
